Your Summer Move Made Easy

Young smiling couple moving boxes out of a truck.

As the school year comes to a close, the summer moving season really starts to pick up. It’s estimated that around 32 million people move annually, with 90% of those moves occurring over the summer months. What does this mean to you if you’re planning a move between June and September? It means you need to plan ahead to ensure a stress-free moving day!

The summer months are also the busiest time of the year for the self storage industry. As people plan their moves, begin downsizing, or are starting off in their first apartments after college, self storage becomes necessary to store belongings they need to keep but may no longer have the space for.

10 Summer Moving Tips

Moving can be stressful at any time of the year, but especially so during the busy summer months. However, by planning and preparing ahead of time, your moving day will be a breeze. Just remember that along with all the other moving tasks to do, take special precaution to protect your belongings from the extreme temperatures.

Keep your cool on moving day with these summer moving tips:

1)      Make your reservations early. Moving resources tend to be scarcer during the summer, so starting getting estimates from moving companies well in advance of your move. The average person makes their reservation only eight days ahead of their move, but this is definitely not recommended during the busy summer months.

2)      Avoid the heat of the day. If it’s possible, pack your moving truck later in the evening or first thing in the morning, before the day heats up.

3)      Wear appropriate clothing. Keep cooler by wearing loose, light colored clothing (dark clothes attract and trap heat). Avoid sunburn by wearing long sleeves or pants- at the very least, make sure you’ve applied some sunscreen.

4)      Pick up moving and packing supplies in advance. Purchase your moving and packing supplies from a nearby National Storage location. This way, you’ll have everything you need when you’re ready to start packing, and won’t be wasting time scrambling to find boxes or packing tape.

5)      Move on a weekday. Summer weekends tend to get booked up very quickly, so try to plan your move for mid-week, during the middle of the month. The busiest summer moving days are usually Memorial Day weekend and the last weekend in July.

6)      Be careful what you pack. As you’re packing your moving truck, beware of items that are susceptible to extreme heat, like leather furniture that can sweat when wrapped in protective plastic. CDs or DVDs can warp over time in a hot truck.

7)      Stay hydrated at all times. Packing and unpacking is one big, long workout, so an important summer moving tip is to drink plenty of water the day of your move!

8)      Turn the utilities on at your new home. Ensure that your new home will be cool and comfortable by turning on the utilities at least a few days before your summer move. This way you can have the air conditioning running, so everyone involved in your move will be able to cool off inside for a few minutes here and there.

9)      Be kind to the movers. Just because they are professionals, it doesn’t mean your movers won’t be hot and uncomfortable on your moving day. Offer them water so they can avoid dehydration; you might even consider ordering lunch or having snacks for everyone to they stay energized throughout the day.

10)   Have a backup plan prepared. Because the summer is so busy for moving, make sure you have a backup plan in mind in case the moving companies or rental trucks are all booked the day you’d planned to move.

Good luck with your summer move, and remember, National Storage have plenty of locations ready to help with all your storage needs!

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